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Aaron Vale is Unbeatable in $5,000 1.40m Open Jumper to Kick Off Kentucky Summer Series

Written by LENORE PHILLIPS

Thursday, 26 July 2018 12:01

Aaron Vale was not going to waste a moment making sure everyone knew he was the man to beat during the opening day of the Kentucky Summer Horse Show. Vale not only won the 1.40m Open Jumpers on the 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Elusive, but also bested the the field of the remaining 16 horse-and-athlete combinations to claim second place with Acolina R. Hayley Waters rounded out the top three spots with a speedy finish on Bijou Du Pont Rihen.

The first day of the Kentucky Summer Horse Show welcomed hunter horses to the Stonelea Ring at the Kentucky Horse Park to kick off competition. The Green Hunter division combined competitors from the 3’6” and 3’9” heights where Katherine Newman and Dandelion rose to the the top with a victory in the Green Hunter Incentive Stake.

Newman and the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, owned by Allwyn Court and The Dandelion Group, bested the other entries with a score of 85 to claim the win just ahead of Geoffrey Hesslink and High Society with a score of 84.5 in second and Christopher Payne and Ovo with a score of 84 in third.

The final day of the Kentucky Spring Classic concluded jumper competition in the Rolex Stadium with the $35,000 Bluegrass Grand Prix, sponsored by Audi of Lexington, to close out the spring horse show series. Course designer Guilherme Jorge (BRA) tested 31 athletes across his 16-efforts track, but Ireland’s Kevin Babington (IRL) was the only double-clear pathfinder with Mark Q to claim his second consecutive National Grand Prix victory of the series.

The technical track only saw four clear rounds consisting of just three different riders as Babington directed two mounts to the jump-off. Babington first entered the second round aboard his own Double O Seven 7, but with one rail the pair ended on four faults in a time of 43.260 seconds, to be overtaken and they finished in fourth place.

The final day of the Kentucky Spring Classic saw hunter competitors vying for the top prize in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by the World Equestrian Center and Kentucky Horse Shows. Twenty-five horse-and-rider combinations entered the Stonelea Ring with hopes of capturing the top prize, but no one could catch Jordan Allen and Eclypse, who claimed first place with a total score of 184.

The first round of competition asked athletes to demonstrate their skills over a lengthy course which involved bending lines and multiple combinations. After all 25 horse-and-rider teams completed their course, the top 12 athletes who scored an 80.5 or higher were asked to return for a second handy round. During the handy round horses demonstrated their horse’s handiness by executing tight turns and a trot fence was also added to the course.

Friday morning at the Kentucky Spring Classic opened with the $5,000 1.45m Open Jumpers to kick off jumper competition in the Rolex Stadium, where 21 athletes were tested over Guilherme Jorge’s (BRA) 14-effort track. Seven horse-and-rider combinations finished clear rounds, followed by an immediate jump-off. Fabio Leivas Da Costa rode to first and second place aboard Bonne Chance Farm LLC’s Kalisto The Music and Randon Pleasure, respectively.

Leivas Da Costa first entered the ring aboard another mount of Bonne Chance Farm LLC, Luziada Jmen, but one rail down ultimately placed the pair in the twelfth position. He later came back to the ring with new mount, Kalisto The Music, a 7-year-old Belgian Warmblood, to produce a clear round in an unbeatable time of 43.715 seconds for the gelding’s first big win. Last to return, Leivas Da Costa rode Randon Pleasure, a 13-year-old Selle Français mare to a quick time of 44.357 seconds to follow just behind his winning time for second place.